Topic:
1:20 metal kits

1:20 metal kits

In researching my railcar (see For Sale forum) I found that JLE Scale Models in Iowa made a bunch of 1:20 metal and plastic kits for various older vehicles, like a 1909 Model T, 1929 Model A wagon, etc.

Must look out that Solido Ford over here in the UK Boomer. I would love to get my hands on some of the Hubley's and their re-casts but shipping and import costs make it a bit prohibitive over here. I have found that with some vehicle types that if you don't know the size of the prototype in relation to what you are modelling then if its over/under scale a bit it does not matter too much. But I appreciate your sentiments.

As a youngster I assembled many plastic plane, car and ship kits; and was always happy with the results. I bought two Hubley kits, but was very disappointed with the amount of metal flash that had to be removed from the poorly casted parts. When that was all done I found the parts fit very poorly.

Flash forward half a century. Now a very experienced modeller with all the proper tools, I decided to try another Hubley car kit. But the results were the same.

Better to buy the modern assembled die-cast vehicles. Many of them can be found on line, sometimes on sale. A week or two after Christmas I found a large scale firetruck on sale in Walmart. A beautiful well assembled model for about $50. Fortunately I was the one person that walked down that aisle that was tall enough to reach it.